Wednesday, June 12, 2013

‘Live in Europe’ was compiled from live performance recorded throughout Europe during February and March 1972. It has gone on to become one of the best live albums of all time, serving as a massive influence on budding musicians such as The Edge and Adam Clayton of U2, who both cite this album as the recording that made them want to learn guitar and play in a band.

For some Rory had wanted to capture the adrenaline and excitement of his live performance. Whilst touring extensively in Europe he decided to record his shows, the results were little short of phenomenal and Live In Europe earned Rory much acclaim, including his first solo Top Ten album and 1972’s Melody Maker ‘Top Musician Of The Year’ award.

One of the group's better albums, despite coming so late in their history that it was ignored by almost everyone. "Hope," "Fire Brothers," and "Don't Cry for My Lady Love" are among the best songs the group ever cut, and "I Found Love" is one of the prettiest, most upbeat songs ever to come from any classic San Francisco band.

Some of the rest is self-indulgent, but that's what this era of music was about -- the guitar pyrotechnics of "Song for Frisco" and "Play My Guitar" make them both more entertaining than their somewhat bland melodies; the latter song, in particular, sounds like a Marty Balin/Jefferson Airplane outtake that would have been right on target about four years before the release date of this album. The whole record feels that way, a throwback to the psychedelic era circa late 1967.

It's also very much a folk-rock record, with a rich acoustic guitar texture on many of the songs. For the record, since the CD reissue has no personnel information, the band at this point was Dino Valenti (guitar, vocals), Greg Elmore (drums), Gary Duncan (vocals, guitar), Mark Ryan (bass), Mark Naftalin (keyboards), and Chuck Steaks (keyboards). If you ever wondered what the Airplane might have done as a follow-up to Surrealistic Pillow with Marty Balin still singing lead, this is it.